The Hostess with the Mostess

This is a picture of Sienna playing with her new tea set. This is probably about Sienna's 50th tea set over her little 4 years. The girl has a serious love for some tea sets, followed closely by anything kitchen play. That's because she loves to care and tend to people. Not only will she serve you your tea but she'll also, gladly, make you something to eat with it. This picture only shows the new tea set, not any of the older ones that came to the table as her tea party quickly grew. I know that all this is pretty normal typical 4 year old girl stuff but I am still amazed by her. As we played tea set this afternoon she was absolutely mesmerizing. I sat there, drinking my tea and eating my bologna sandwich (made from a doll house door and a plastic Easter egg), and I just watched her tend to her guests with such care and concern for their individual desire. They each got individual time with Sienna to tell what they would like and she accommodated each one accordingly. It really didn't matter that it was all imaginary and the guests were 2 Dora dolls and a water baby. As the party was winding down, Sienna decided that it was time to put all the babies to bed. Then it was time to wash all the dishes. Her detail is remarkable. Nothing is missing, not even one little step. My bologna sandwich even had mayo on it, because Sienna said it just doesn't taste as good without it. Watching Sienna today makes me want to tell everyone~ take the time to notice our kids. Not just play with them, not just keep them safe, not just provide for them, but to really notice them~ their small details, the little things because that's where the true magic is.

Easter Dinner

I am so totally full! I couldn't tell you the last time I ate so much. I don't know what was wrong with me today, but I ate like a pig. I just couldn't get enough. I said that I felt like a refugee who just came home to their first meal in years! How pathetic is that?! Everything just tasted soooo good. I don't think there was one thing at the table that didn't taste FABULOUS to me! I probably could have ate my plate. I was terrible. I guess that'll be an extra day at the gym this week! (lol, ha-ha, lol)

So, obviously I very much enjoyed dinner at Shell's with Mom. The kids always have a great time whenever we go to Shell's house. Even Levi knows~ as soon as pulled in the drive he started grunting and pointing at the house. It's always fun at Aunt Shell's. Heather and Casey came too and she is so adorable right now. She's 12 weeks from having her first baby so I'm sure she's not feeling adorable but she looks it. If you don't know who Heather is, she is Shell's stepdaughter and she is super tiny petite. But now she's got a nice round baby bump. Usually when I see those super skinny girls who are pregnant and don't like them (even though I do not know them) because I know they're going to pop out that baby and go straight home and pull out those size zero jeans and slip right back into them. Meanwhile, I'd give my left leg to see a size 10 again! But with Heather that's not the case. I suppose since I love her so much that doesn't anger (make me soooooooo incredibly jealous) me as it normally does. I'm so happy for her and I can't wait to see that new baby!!

It was just a really nice day. As I was helping Sienna take off her Easter dress for jamey time she says to me, "I had a really fun time wearing that dress today with my tights". That simple little statement almost made me cry. It was an awesome day that has left me feeling extremely blessed. I hope that all of you had as nice a Easter as I did.

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter everyone! The kids were up bright and early this morning asking if the Easter Bunny came. As soon as we got to the bottom of the stairs Sienna was already looking for the eggs. Sierra, of course, was already on the hunt. Levi went straight for the baskets. I was anticipating this holiday to be a good one for Levi. I figured with a basket full of goodies just for him, it was bound to be a favorite. The first thing on Sienna's mind after getting that Baby Bottle Pop open was, "are we going to go to church now?". She couldn't wait to get all dressed up. Sierra, of course, was the first one dressed (accessories included) and ready to go. Any legitimate reason to get all dolled up and Sierra is all over it.

We went to Steve Payne's church and it was absolutely beautiful. The service was lovely. I think that Steve Payne might be the one and only person that I could actually sit and listen to all day. His sermons never seem long to me and the end always comes by surprise somehow. As for Levi, he went in the nursery today!! And stayed!! Yeah! I was a little worried that he wouldn't stay but once we got to the nursery all my worries went away. There was about 10 little boys and zero girls. Levi was absolutely thrilled!

That was our Easter morning and now we're heading over to Shell's for dinner with Mom. I'll have more pictures and another post later. Happy Easter everyone!

Here's Come Peter Cottantail

The family colored our Easter eggs tonight. It was alot of fun. And believe it or not, no one spilled anything!! I thought that was pretty amazing. Everyone got their own full set of colors and an equal number of eggs to color. Daddy and Levi had to share their eggs and coloring for obvious reasons.

Having 3 kids is alot of work but it has some benefits. I get to experience the holidays (or any event) through each of their eyes. Sierra is 8 now and she is definitely at that tweeny stage. Which is an awesome place to be for her, but that fresh eyed wonder is gone. Don't get me wrong, she still experiences that fresh eyed wonder from time to time (like the other day when we were looking at some heels at Payless). But it is replaced by understanding and knowledge which leads to an innocent wisdom that is so amazing to see in your child. Sierra understands the reasons behind our holidays now. The eggs and goodies are just a bonus. She doesn't just rush through her eggs anymore. She takes her time and is creative with them.

This of course led to a breakdown for Sienna when she ran out of eggs first. She insisted that Sierra got more eggs than she did. Why does someone always think someone else is getting more or better? But overall Sienna had a blast coloring eggs. She was so very careful with each and everyone one of her eggs. I wrote on some of the eggs with a white crayon ahead of time and she was so excited when she pulled an egg out of her pink dye and saw her name on it. Again, that fresh eyed wonder is so amazing.

As for Levi, I think he colored one egg the entire time. It turned out a beautiful shade of orange. I think this picture of Levi has captured that fresh eyed wonder I was talking about. (He's not crying, it's sheer excitement and wonder with a shutter delay from the camera.) We put him in his high chair and gave him the cup of orange coloring and an egg. He knew exactly what to do. That egg went straight in the cup with no hesitation. He sat there looking at the egg in the cup and then at us. He finally reached back into the cup to get the egg and was sooooooooo totally shocked to discover that the egg was now orange. It was the funniest thing I've seen for quite a while. After a bit Dave tried to get the egg from Levi. Levi wasn't happy about this. He SCREAMED and was diligently trying to get to his egg back. Dave quickly gave him a new egg and all was okay. The new egg went into the dye and came out orange so Levi was happy again. Levi dunked and retrieved his egg over and over and over and over again. His hand was a darker shade of orange than our pumpkins from Halloween. His arm was orange all the way up past his elbow. Needless to say, Levi did not enjoy clean up time.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Easter holiday filled with lots of love and family!!

Ouch

This is a picture of the steps that I walk up and down every day upon exiting or entering my home. I love our new house so very much in so many ways; however, I hate these steps! I'm not sure what it is about these particular steps but they've got me scared to death to leave the house. I have fallen down these steps TWICE. That's right, not once but TWICE. We've only lived here a month and I've fallen down the same steps TWICE. Most people would learn after the first fall, but not me.

The first fall was on Levi's therapy day two weeks ago. I knew the steps were icy. I had already warned Levi's Help Me Grow caseworker about the ice on the steps as she was leaving (approx. 30 minutes before my fall). I ran out to the van to start it up so that Levi and I could jump right into a nice warm ride. I opened the door and took one step out and before I could blink my eye I was sitting at the bottom on my butt and feeling much pain. I was more stunned than anything else. I haven't fallen because of ice in years. I was a little stunned that I had actually just fallen. Then I started to become very aware of the excruciating pain in my ankle and hip/butt. It was so terrible. It hurt so bad. But I was determined to be strong and just shake it off and NOT CRY. A few tears did manage to find there way out of my eyes but, hey, that really hurt.

I think I've mentioned before that I'm not much of a morning person and I think that might have played a factor in the second fall. It was first thing in the morning and since I own two young dogs, they go pee before I do. So, I'm carrying Max (he can't be trusted to not stop and pee in route to the door) and I see the stray black cat outside of the door. I can barely see as it is since my contacts are still stuck to my eyes but I thought the steps looked dry and occupied by the stray cat. I yelled at the cat and told it to leave. I kicked the door and screamed at the cat, but it just stayed there, looking at me, meowing at me. All the while, Max is squirming like crazy to get down and feel like I'm about to burst too. I'm afraid to let Max outside though for fear that he'll run off chasing that cat. Considering that I'm standing there in my house shoes, boxer shorts and tshirt I really wasn't wanting to chase the dog down. And not to mention it's only 6:30 in the morning. It's still dark out. So, I finally had the great idea that I would just step out on the steps and kick my foot at the cat while yelling and it would run away. So, with Max in hand, I stepped out onto the steps and before I could yell at the cat I was down on my butt and my house shoe was in a snow bank. My first thought was "AGAIN???!!!!" I didn't care about being strong this time, I balled like a baby. I turned Max loose and looked around for my missing house shoe. There was that black cat, just sitting there looking at me as Max ran off in the other direction. What was I thinking?!! If my fat ass falling down those steps isn't going to scare off that cat my little kick/yell combo wasn't going to do a thing! And Max~ no interest what so ever in the cat. He could have cared less. He peed and came right back inside. I finally got up, still bawling, retrieved my house shoe from the snow bank and went back inside. My poor little pitiful thin boxer shorts were soaking wet and dripping water onto my legs which made me cry even more. And I still hadn't even peed yet. When the girls came down stairs I told them what happened to Mommy and they both said, "Again?!" I told Dave. He said, "Again?!" I told my sister. She said, "Again?!" Yes, damnit, AGAIN! Apparently, you only get the 'are you okay' response on your fist fall. After that, not so much.

I am recovering nicely though. No worries. My bruise from the first fall is gone but my ankle is still swollen. It doesn't give any trouble really so I'm sure it will be fine. The second fall has left me with a bruise across my backside bigger than the eastern seaboard and is still quite sore. However, that too will heal. However, every time I think about that second fall~ I can't help but laugh out loud. Is that strange? It hurt so bad but I can't help but laugh hard. And here's a picture of Sienna just because.

Need a Little Chap Stick?

I cannot stand having some chapped lips! I've always got a least one tube of chap stick on me at all times. Sienna asks for the chap stick frequently. Apparently, she doesn't like chapped lips either. While we were snowed in over the weekend, I came across Sienna and Levi on the couch. Apparently, Levi doesn't care if his lips are getting chapped or not, he doesn't want any chap stick.

Dinner Time

I finally get to make a post! Yeah! I say that because my internet isn't all that I had hoped it would be. For what it cost us to get it I should be able to send emails to the moon and back in the blink of an eye. However, half the time I'm not able to send an email to my sister who is just 5 miles down the road. (I typed that last sentence and then the breaker blew!! It might be a sign) Anyway, I am grateful for this chance to blog again. This is a picture of Levi's cabinet. He claimed this cabinet for himself at the very first dinner I made in this house (which consisted of taking pizza out of the box). I keep this cabinet pretty empty just for Levi, with the exception of some water and a couple small things that sit on the shelf. He plays in this cabinet every night while I make dinner. I thought I would give you all a small glimpse into a very small piece of my life. This is what life is like in my house while dinner is being made. The video is a little dark but you get the idea.